Foreign multinationals have an inglorious history of environmental damage and human rights abuse in the exploitation of Latin America’s natural resources that can be traced all the way back to the Spanish enslavement of Africans within Potosi’s silver mines in the 16th Century. There are numerous protected areas presently facing or suffering from damage caused extractive industry operations, most noticeably Chevrons vs Lago Agrio Plaintiffs, considered to be the biggest environmental suit in legal history